Tuesday, November 20, 2012
However you want to start a sentence…
Here is a little on-line discussion about starting a sentence with "however." The first answer (by Edward Tanguay) is what I agree with. The person after that (no hat) states that "however" is a conjunction, which is wrong. Basically, the "rule" that you should never start a sentence with "however" is an old style point that stuck with some teachers. I think that maybe the misreading of "however" meaning "yet" for "however" meaning "to what extent" was the cause for the rule. A proper placement of a comma fixes this possible confusion, however.
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3 comments:
I think I know the source of this rule now. It is stated in Strunk and White's The Elements of Style: "Avoid starting a sentence with however when the meaning is 'nevertheless.' The word usually serves better when not in first position."
The Elements of Style was first published for a general audience in 1959, but it was written originally as a class handbook back in 1918. Since its publication, it has been the style Bible for many writers and writing teachers in search of material have taken the many suggestions in the book as a series of rules to teach their students. It is a very good book, but it is a series of suggestions based on the preferences of the authors; it is not a list of unassailable rules.
I remember being told to avoid beginning a sentence with "however" back in grade school. However, once I began writing in High School I noticed it was done by both teachers and students with little mention of the "rule". Maybe it is taught this way to younger writers so they can avoid misuse of "however" until they've developed a better writing style and structure?
I know we covered starting a sentence with 'however' last quarter, but what about ending one? I skimmed through Rules for Writers, but couldn't come up with anything definitive.
Basic example: "They have similar reactions. These reactions are not always shared together however."
It seems this would be grammatically correct if however is not a conjunction, and therefore does not need to be joining two clauses, but as we've discussed can actually be at the beginning of one. So could the same go for the end of a sentence?
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